The Narcissus and the White Poplar
by Blackpen Enaru
Summary: The Olympians' imprisonment in Cronos' stomach, the Titanomachy, and the story behind Hades and Leuce.
1. 1

I was hot, wet, and cramped. Unfortunately, I didn't have any clothes I could take off, for out of my mother's womb I had come, and down my father's throat I had gone. For decades I used to curse him, but I probably would have done the same. Or actually, I would have refrained from having children that had been prophesized to overthrow me. There _are_ ways of getting around procreation. Speaking of which, I carefully lifted my god parts out of the way as the stomach acids began to secrete from the walls again. I also shifted my leg the best I could and flexed my foot to keep it from losing any more sensation. I accidentally prodded Hera with my elbow and she snapped at me.

"You're in my space, Hades."

"Then scoot over," I grumbled back. She couldn't, since there was no room. I drew my knees closer to my chest and stared at the smooth wet, ceiling, hoping Cronus would start eating soon. I was starving but did not want to touch that green and brown blob that was sitting on Demeter's shoulder. As if on cue, a half chewed chicken leg dropped on my head and Hestia snatched it before anyone else could. We squabbled over who would get to eat it, but were soon distracted by the other nearly whole foods that followed. Honestly, did the man ever masticate properly? I greedily stuffed my face with a lump of fish, lettuce, and Uranus knows what. After an unfulfilling meal, I was still hungry, as was everyone else. A diet for one is not enough to feed four bored gods trapped in their father's stomach.

I glared at the swaddled rock that was taking up almost a fifth of the space. It simply wouldn't dissolve like the food. A few years ago, we had to share the space with a live foul that had somehow made its way down here. Fortunately, it was soon sent down the hole in the floor. This recollection gave me an idea.

"The food!" I cried. "Where does all the food disappear to? We can follow it down and escape!"

Demeter got this gleam in her eye. "Actually," she started slyly. "Only one of us needs to make an escape while the rest of us wait here. Then he can overpower Cronus and free everyone else."

"Well?" I demanded. "Who's going to do that?" No one volunteered. So we just sat there for another half a century.

The Voice began to talk to us again. Usually, when a couple is expecting a child, the father will speak into the mother's stomach. In the case of my parents, my mother murmured soothing words into my father's swollen abdomen each night. My sisters and I would often have to strain to hear her soft voice over my father's snores. I loved her stories about our family tree.

"Your first ancestor was Chaos," she whispered. "All the world began with him. He somehow produced Uranus, Gaia, and a handful of other deities, I don't know how."

Perhaps Chaos was asexual, I thought.

"Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the heavens, mated but Uranus cast his children deep under his wife until she could endure the pain of this no longer. She called upon her children to rise against their father. Cronus, the youngest son, dutifully castrated his father with a flint blade and tossed the testicles into the sea."

I winced at the thought.

"From the bloodied sea foam came Aphrodite, the most beautiful goddess of love."

That part wasn't so bad.

"'Titanes theoi be cursed!' Uranus cried. "You shall suffer the same fate you have inflicted upon me.' With this warning, your father Cronus took the precaution of swallowing each of you whole."

Mother sighed sadly. "I hate him for that. I am weary of giving birth only to have my children taken from me.

"But one day, you will fulfill the prophecy of Uranus," she continued confidently. "I have seen to it."

I stirred when I heard this. There was hope after all. I was eager to get out of here.

One day, I suddenly felt myself being sucked upwards. From the looks on their faces, I saw that my sisters could feel it as well. We screamed, shouted, and shoved as we were forced up a narrow tunnel and finally fell out onto the ground. I shielded my eyes, the light was blinding. Oh, how glorious the day was. When I could finally see again, it appeared that our dear father Cronus had vomited us out in the middle of a party. All the guests were dressed in their finest and gaping at us. However, we had little time to enjoy our freedom. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

"Let's go!" the owner of the hand shouted. The person began to run and I followed suit since all my sisters were doing the same. We ran out of the festivities, stark naked and glistening with bile and stomach fluids.

Our liberator led us to a cave, where there was a cornucopia sitting on a table. It was filled with ripe, luscious fruits. Hestia, Demeter and I rushed over and started to fill ourselves. Hera primly glided her way over before taking small bites at a time. It was wonderful to have glorious, whole, undigested food. Fortunately, the basket never emptied no matter how often we reached inside.

Looking a bit appalled at our manners, the boy who had freed us introduced himself as Zeus, our youngest brother. "When Cronus wanted to swallow me, Mother tricked him with a rock wrapped in a blanket," he explained over the gulps, crunches, and smacks. He nodded at a slightly older teenager who looked like he couldn't believe he was related to us. "That's Poseidon. Cronus swallowed a foal thinking Mother had given birth to one."

I paused from my watermelon long enough to acknowledge him. "We are in your debt, Zeus," I nodded formally. "Where you lead, I shall follow."

"And I," Demeter chimed, without looking up from her mango.

Hera and Hestia pledged their allegiance as well. Poseidon grumbled that he would help out.

Zeus lifted his head with a newfound confidence. "If we do not fight, we shall forever be persecuted. I say that we declare war on the Titans when they are least expecting it."

With that, Zeus sent Demeter and me to rally up the nature deities while he, Poseidon, and Hera went to appeal to the larger creatures. Hestia opted to stay and tend to the fire. She has a strange fascination with fire, I wonder if she will become a fire goddess.

When we arrived on the earth, we summoned all of its guardians. The dryads stepped out of their trees, the satyrs trotted over, and the Naiads splashed out from their ponds. I could make out snippets of gossip as they came over.

"Did you hear about Nomia? She gouged out Daphnis' eyes because he cheated on her."

"That's a bit extreme. I would have just merged myself to him."

"That's what Salmacis did to Hermaphroditus when he refused her."

I shook my head. Such idle chatter would not be the focus of a nymph's day once this war started. A variety of other beings came and most of them looked at us warily. The nymphs stared at me with large, fascinated eyes. One of them actually reached for me. I kept my distance, for I now knew they could be viciously violent when jealous. If testicles don't grow back, I didn't see why eyes would either.

Demeter kept turning her head to stare at all of Gaia's blessings. "Look at them, Hades. They are so beautiful and full of life," she marveled. "They are as sweet and innocent as children."

I stifled a snort.

Demeter fell in love with the nymphs, their habitat, and took up guardianship of them. "My friends," she called grandly. "I, Demeter, claim the harvest. Join us in the war against the cruel Titans and I shall protect you."

A dryad stepped forward and glared at us accusingly. "You shall ravage our beloved land out of petty politics. We will take no part in your conflict." He looked young and beautiful, as all nymphs do, but his eyes held an ancient wisdom.

An Oceanid scowled at this remark and swished her hands angrily. "You fools! There is no such thing as neutrality in war. You think our beloved lakes and forests will be spared in this war? It is to our advantage to take a side. We might as well, if they are to fight on the very soil that keeps us alive."

I looked at the speaker appraisingly. She showed a remarkable understanding of reality and an unusual shrewdness. I liked it. "What is your name, she who speaks so cynically?" I asked out of genuine curiosity.

She turned to me and looked me up and down. This mere nymph who commanded no army and ruled no kingdom made me feel like a sprig of leaves at the bottom of her foot. "I am Leuce," she said finally. She gave a bow that conveyed no respect. This creature was daring as she was beautiful. She stood out from the rest because of her bold attitude. She held her head higher. She didn't avert her eyes like some of them. She didn't speak in a soft murmur but enunciated loudly and clearly. She spoke to be heard and obeyed.

"I take it that we have your allegiance then," I said. "Who else will join us?"

An uncertain murmur began to arise from the crowd. The dryad who had spoken first began to appeal for neutrality once more. "Take a side, we may lose. If this is so, then we shall be punished. We should not join in any of these entangling alliances."

"But if we win, we shall be rewarded." This time, a river goddess spoke. I recognized her as Styx, the calm protector of one of the rivers the underworld. "That will give us even more of a reason to win this fight! Do you truly think being neutral will spare your skies, trees, and earth? If these people are willing to risk their own livelihood, what is most precious to them, why would they not spend ours? If we are to suffer anyway, we may as well join the gamble. My brothers and sisters, what do we have to lose?"

A satyr answered her. "We love the skies, the trees, the earth. We prefer them intact. I will not take part in anything that hurts Gaia."

"If we help this war end faster, we are acting to defend our homes and our lives." Leuce insisted.

A small cluster of nature deities joined us, one of the most eager the Styx.

#

We succeeded in recruiting the Hundred handed and the Gigantes. We freed the Cyclopeses from Tartarus, who had been held there by Cronos. As a show of gratitude, they bestowed upon Zeus, Poseidon, and me each a gift. I received a helmet that made its wearer invisible, Poseidon a trident, and Zeus a thunderbolt. Poseidon and I both stared at Zeus' new weapon with envy. However, we knew better than to raise a childish fuss. We had to seem united if we were to win more people over.


	2. Chapter 2

#

I was looking at a map to plot battle strategy when someone came in the tent and peered over my shoulder. It was Leuce. How daring of her to enter without permission. It intrigued me.

She spoke. "If you are to fight a naval battle, I have some minor control over the sea. And that river god can immerse everyone in water and make it impossible to cross when you are being chased."

I turned to look at her. "Why are you helping us?" I asked. I didn't mean to be rude, she struck me as an opportunist and I didn't know if I could trust her to not defect should the battle turn in the enemy's favor.

She looked surprised. Then her expression turned somewhat… seductive. "I am just a weak woman," she purred, tracing her hands along my chest. "What defenses do I have? Every woman needs a reliable protector. You understand this, do you not?"

"Yes," I answered more gutturally than I would have liked. Her lips were inches away from my face. I leaned in but she abruptly turned her back to me, much to my disappointment.

"If a god were to want me, but I not him, the most I could do is run." There was an unmistakably bitter note in her voice. "Maybe I would even be lucky enough to be turned into a tree." She turned around again, staring at me with hunger in her eyes. "But if I were to want a god and he were to want me, I might as well have him." She lifted a hand toward my face but I caught her wrist.

"But what if you were to find a stronger protector across the enemy line?" I pressed.

Her eyes dropped to the metal plate between my legs. "Then claim me now before it is too late," she challenged. "Bind me to you with your superior… protection."

I stared at her blankly. I had a feeling that I was supposed to do something with the burning in my loins, but I wasn't sure exactly what. It had only been a few weeks since I had escaped Cronus' stomach and until recently, my thoughts had mainly been on eating. Well, if binding was what she wanted, then I'd do it. "Right," I stalled. "I'll look for some rope."

Leuce rolled her eyes. "It's a _metaphor_. If you're lucky I'll even bear you a child." Then she pushed me on top of the table and started to unstrap the fastenings on my armor.

"What are you doing?" I protested. "I need that for protection."

I shut up when she began to take her own clothes off.

For that one night, everything was perfect. However, something was still bothering me. "This is how you make babies?" I asked.

She murmured a yes as she snuggled into me.

I thought of my father, who had chosen to procreate at the potential expense of his own throne (and testicles). I did not think such a venture was worth the possibility of being cast out of power.

#

I woke up extra early to do something that I should have done hours ago. I picked up my helmet of invisibility, put on my quietest sandals, and reached for the tent flap.

"Where are you going?" Leuce asked, with a note on anxiety in her voice. So she hadn't been sleeping after all.

"Mt. Othrys," I replied, without meeting her eyes. "My brothers and I agreed that I would sneak into the enemy camp and destroy all their weapons before the first battle breaks out today."

"Without your armor?" she noted suspiciously.

"It is too noisy. I need stealth on my side."

She seemed to accept this answer. However, she seemed unhappy nonetheless that I was putting myself in danger.

"My dear, we are fighting a war. Risk is inevitable." With that, I left with a confidence I did not feel.

#

I snuck into the armory and shattered all the swords, spears, and arrows with my bare hands. My palms bled, but I did not care. I was too scared that I'd get caught and be subject to an eternity of torture. On my way out, I also stole a couple of pears and a side of lamb for good measure. They looked so delicious.

#

Thanks to my success, the enemy was at a significant disadvantage, but they soon forged more weapons. They proved to be fierce and determined to protect their power.

And so, for ten years we fought. Ten, long years. The Titanides did not take a side as their menfolk had treated them as poorly as us. As we warred, the heavens trembled until it was on the verge of collapsing into the earth.

One may wonder how immortals can truly suffer in a war. In a way, we were the ones who suffered the least. Since there were roughly even numbers on either side, the battle strategy became based on recruiting more mortals for yourself and killing as many of the enemy as possible. This is not to say that the gods were not impacted. Sometimes I wished I could die so it could all be over. There is nothing like having a dear friend die in front of your eyes, or seeing that a charred wasteland is all that is left of what was once a forest teeming with life. Violence is not a healthy state of living, nor is it natural.

As the fighting progressed, it became increasingly difficult to sort allegiances. There was so much defecting, spying, and arms dealing that no one was above suspicion. For example, Epimetheus, Menoetius, and Prometheus eventually switched over to our side. Once a spy caught hiding in a tree, Zeus ordered all the trees to be cut down to deprive the enemy guerillas of their hiding places. Leuce screamed and raged as the dryads were sacrificed fora cause from which they had distanced themselves.

"They're neutral!" she cried hysterically as the foot soldiers went about with their axes. "Most of them are neutral!" She desperately wrapped herself around a white poplar, but the man made as if to chop right through her. I yanked her away in the nick of time. As a nymph, she was very particular about Gaia's children.

She was very playful, especially with the prisoners. She would make them do things like stack up in a pyramid after taking their clothes off. However, I often found myself having to intervene when she took things to far.

"Leuce, my love. Even war requires a certain code of conduct," I once reminded her.

"They showed my friends no orderly conduct," she hissed.

I had no answer to this. True, the war was becoming more and more uncivilized by the day, especially since terror had become a method of keeping the masses under control. Even the civilians could not be trusted since some opportunists took advantage of the Titan-Olympian conflict for an extra piece of land or a little bit more prestige. They made secret deals that helped prolong the war by dragging in third parties that were now obligated to fight. Wherever we advanced, we took everyone prisoner, even the humans. Sometimes they were simply executed on the spot.

Personally, I thought it was a waste of space and effort to round up the humans. These new creations of Prometheus were pathetically unequipped to fight, much less survive. They were not as swift as the leopard, clever as the ape, or as ferocious as the bear. They lacked sharp claws for defense, fur for warmth, and the mental capacity to do anything as sophisticated as start a war. Prometheus frequently hovered over hishelpless creatures like an overprotective mother. I felt sorry for them too, but they were a hopeless cause. I was certain they would cease to survive as a species.

The Titans fought from Mt. Othrys and we made our camp on Olympus, so we were both situated close enough to the coast to fight on the seas. However, our forces were wearing thin, and we would have no chance of standing the next battle unless we concentrated all our resources in one area.

Zeus came up with a brilliant plan. He beckoned over a fragile looking human boy and instructed him to watch for the Titans from the North Temple. "I want you to light a lantern and hang it by the window as a signal," he said slowly and clearly, pointing at a lamp and making a square in the air. "See where they're coming from. _One_ if by land, _two_ if by sea. You understand?" With all of his exaggerated hand gestures, a deaf person would have understood.

The boy nodded and ran off.

I frowned. "Are you sure you can trust him with the task?" I asked. "Humans are not that intelligent."

"We need every soldier we can spare," he replied. "Humans are useless on the battlefield."

We watched for the signal and two lights appeared at the window of the temple. The Nereid's raised the waters in an attempt to flood the Titan ships that were approaching. Leuce and some of her Oceanid friends summoned a minor storm. Unfortunately, our own ships were affected as well. A naval battle in the worst conditions ensued.

I struggled to maintain my balance as the ship thrashed angrily and the enemy kept shooting arrows at me. The biting wind stung my cheeks and the spray from the ocean half blinded me. However, I kept fighting. It would not do for the leader to falter.

When we were weary, when we felt like we could endure the fighting no longer, the Titans finally surrendered. I felt no joy or triumph at the sight of their white flag, only relief.

#


End file.
